The Damned United

The intense anticipation surrounding this movie has always threatened to drown it before it even hit the cinemas, but thankfully, The Damned United proves itself classy enough to weather the attention.

Based on David Peace's book of the same name, this is the story of Brian Clough, one of football history's most famous managers. In the Seventies, Clough earned an enviable reputation; he excelled at taking small clubs in hand and leading them to greatness. But it is his 44-day stint at then-mighty Leeds United that provides the focus of this film.

At Leeds, Clough replaced his despised rival Don Revie, a fact that ensured the team's hackles were perhaps already raised by the time he accused them of being cheating thugs. Sadly, the thugs won out and Clough was sacked shortly after dipping his toe in the water.

Directed by Tom Hooper and scripted by Peter Morgan, this is a pristine bit of film-making, with a fantastic performance from Timothy Spall as Clough's right-hand man, Peter Taylor - a relationship that seems more the stuff of love-story than work colleague.

At the film's heart sits Michael Sheen, surely one of this country's finest actors; his rendering of Cloughie is sharp and well-observed, but, after turns as Tony Blair in The Queen, Kenneth Williams and, more recently, David Frost in Frost/Nixon, you can't help wishing he would turn his talents to a role that is not essentially impersonating another well-known figure.

Arriving so soon after the other impressions, it makes The Damned United feel just a little like another scene in a sketch show. And Sheen deserves much, much better than to be written off as an impersonator. ·